Churchill Downs plans $3.2 million upgrade of Maine’s Oxford Casino

OXFORD, Maine — Churchill Downs plans to invest $3.2 million in the Oxford Casino to expand the gaming floor and add more table games and slot machines.

Robert L. Evans, chairman and CEO, announced the company’s plans in a second quarter corporate report released this week.

The announcement comes less than a month after Kentucky-based Churchill Downs completed its purchase of the casino from a group of local owners, in a deal valued at approximately $160 million.

Contacted Friday, Courtney Norris, a spokesperson for Churchill Downs, said the plan was to add more table games and slot machines at the casino but she could not speak to the size of the planned expansion or speculate on a time line for completing the project.

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Norris said she did not know if the expansion would have any impact on job creation in the area.

The Oxford Casino opened its doors in June 2012 and the facility was expanded in October. The casino’s 25,000-square-foot gaming floor has 790 slot machines and 22 table games in addition to a 140-seat restaurant and a 12-seat casino bar.

In a statement released when the purchase initially was announced in March, Churchill Downs estimated Oxford Casino would provide an annual cash flow of $12.5 million. The sale was completed in July.

In its first six months of operation, the Oxford Casino made nearly $30 million in net slot revenue and $6.6 million in table game revenue, according to the annual report from the Maine Gambling Control Board. By law, 46 percent of slot revenue and 16 percent of table games are taken in state taxes.

The Oxford Casino is the newest acquisition in Churchill Downs’ growing portfolio of racetracks and gaming establishments.

The company owns the Churchill Downs racetrack, home of the Kentucky Derby, and operations in Miami Gardens, Fla., Vicksburg, Miss., Arlington Heights Ill. and New Orleans, as well as online and data-based gaming and racing-related companies.

According to the second-quarter report released by the company Wednesday, Churchill Downs recorded net earnings of $50.3 million, 4 percent above revenues at the same time last year.